A Wolf and a Swan
by Smokefly
Summary: The brutal murders sends waves of terror through the community of Fables Town. Not just the people of the Homelands, but also every other Fable in New York is left horrified. The fable Ida does everything she can to support her friend Bigby through the tough time, but what is her role going to be in the time to come?
1. A Wolf and a Swan

**Heyooo. I started writing this (my first fanfic!) maniaclly after finishing the first episode of the game. Since then I've finished the game and read all the comics, so I know the franchise pretty well (I do have an alternative Goldilocks, but that not a thing for now!). This little story is not going to be 100% accurate to the game, with I apologise for. I also apologise in advance for my grammar, and you are more than welcome to point out my mistakes. **  
**I wrote this a long time ago, and lost my interest, but I still thought I would share what I wrote so far. If you like it, I might continue. So far I have three/four small, finished chapters. Tell me what you think in any case. I hope you like what you read. **  
**Love youuu.**

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He regained consciousness from one second to the other. He sat straight up in the bed, back stiff and face twisted. The hospital bed quivered in its joints, and the thin blanket fell to the floor. His clothes were messy and stained, and so was his face.

"Where am I?!"

She got up from the chair in the corner of the hospital room and closed the book in her hands. "You're lucky that I was working nightshift. Think of all the young, pretty nurses I've saved. And think of what Crane would've said."

It only took him a split second to recognize her, his keen eyes needing nothing else that the dim light in the room. That wasn't very impressive though. She didn't really look like an ordinary New Yorker.

"Idís?" He seemed to calm down a little, then she twitched and frowned.

"For the love of the Gods, Bigby, I told you not to call me that!"

Then he did something as uncharacteristic as apologizing. He would never really get used to calling her anything other than her name, but he knew better than to start an argument. He didn't really feel like it anyway.

He was still seated in the bed, and she was still standing beside him with the book clutched in her pale hands. They looked at each other in silence for a long time.

It was Ida's ice crystal eyes that brought him back to reality. Reminded him about Snow White's eyes, almost the same color, but empty and glossy, starring into the nothingness only she could see. The surprising and unfathomable pain kept coming back, and he regretted not punching a little harder, on whoever had been the other part of his bar fight.

She broke the silence and his train of thought. "What poor culprit did you beat up this time?"

He didn't answer.

"Looks like you found the biggest Fable around, and asked him about his 'happily ever after'!" At first she smiled a pretty grim smile, but then she frowned again and her mouth became narrow. She wanted to continue, but somehow she had a hard time expressing the concern that was gnawing in her gut. "Do I really need to assign you a dog sitter?"

"You know, right?" Suddenly it felt like his tongue had gone numb, and the words were curled tight in his throat. "About Snow?"

She knew, and she was devastated. Her relationship with Snow was… honestly, all the memories she had of the dark haired beauty, was the chasm she'd made between Bigby and her. The two women probably could've been good friends, if the circumstances had been different. If Snow hadn't been part of the 'government', and if she hadn't taken Ida's place as the wolfman's favorite female creature. Yet Ida had respected her, and when they'd occasionally met, they'd enjoyed each other's company.

Everybody in Fabletown knew how Bigby felt about Snow. Even Kai knew, and he didn't even have eyes in his head. It was impossible to miss. The way he looked at her. The way he changed from big bad wolf to lapdog in her presence. Fabletown was so full of corruption that the two of them had been… giving people hope. And with her gone... For Gods' sake, she'd only been gone for a couple of hours, and he was already pale and cold.

Bigby didn't look like he wanted to leave the bed.

"I'm fine!" At least he made an effort not to growl at her. That was a good sign. Right?

She put her hands on her hips. "As authorized nurse I can only recommend one thing. Fresh air."

He scratched his red brown stubbles, and she smiled a smile that bared her white teeth. Her white uniform made her look like a ghost.

With a little help, he quickly rose from the bed, and became more or less presentable. His shirt did have some suspicious stains, but with his big trench coat it was less noticeable. His black eye was a little harder to conceal, but he wore it like a badge of pride. She wondered if his bruised knuckles were becoming chronic. Somehow she couldn't help but find it attractive. She blushed and blamed her roots.

He held the door for her on the way out. The air was dark and cold, and goose bumps spread across his hairy skin. The cold didn't seem to hurt her, and she left her jacket unbuttoned.

"I miss my fur." He admitted, shoving his hands into his pockets.

"I miss my armor!" She quickly agreed.

There was still plenty of traffic in the Bronx, even though the hours were getting late. Taxi by taxi drove by in a yellow fog, and night owls were glimmering in the neon lights.

Neither of them said much on the stroll. They both preferred the peaceful silence. He lit a cigarette, without offering her. He already knew she preferred her lungs as smoke free as possible.

The Homelands wasn't far from the hospital, and it wasn't long before they could see the columns and the gilded wrought iron gate. There were still a few lights in some of windows but no silhouettes in sight. They stopped in front of the doorsteps and he threw his cigarette away. He stepped on it to put the embers out, and smeared soot on the tiles.

Somehow all the people were gone, even the blood, and all that was left of the evening's nightmares was his memories and the ever present smell of blood in his nose.

Then he returned his attention to her. Her hands were in her pockets, and she was observing him with her almost luminous blue eyes.

He didn't say anything, but she'd known him long enough. They didn't need words anymore.

"I love to walk the dog, the pleasure is all mine."

He always hated when people made dog jokes, but somehow it was okay when it was her. Maybe because he knew that she missed his fur almost as much as he did. Just because they hadn't spent much time together since the Exile, it didn't mean that hundreds of years of friendship meant nothing. Even though they'd both changed a lot since the good old days.

"Goodnight."

"Goodnight."

She smiled sheepishly. A sudden impulse made her take a step forward and give him a pat on the back. "I hope I won't see you again too soon, Biggy."

She could hear him grind his teeth, when she turned around and started walking. Time seemed to pass very slowly, as she was leaving The Homelands behind her, listening to the sound of the city. He was still standing in front of the gate when she reached around the block. Her stomach contracted, and her smile faded.

"Gods dammit."


	2. The Top Apartment

**I might just upload all that I have, and then call it a day. And WAUW, what is THIS, two more OCs?! (kinda).  
**

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**The top apartment.**

When she reached her front door, the moon was almost gone. She hurried into the stairway, searching for the keys in her pockets, and taking the stairs four steps at a time. When she reached the top apartment, her hands shook enough to make it hard to unlock the door.

She tried to be as silent as possible, but was never a quality of hers. All the jackets on the coat stand were knocked down when she tried to hang hers up, and it all fell to the floor. Loudly.

She winched, and begged to all the Gods she knew the names of, that everybody was still asleep. Without more catastrophes, she made her way to the bedroom. She didn't make it further than the living room.

"You're late."

Ida froze solid in the almost pitch dark room, but then turned to meet the silhouette in corner.

"Sorry. Biggy showed up." she tried to explain, while she looked for the light switch.

"Bigby? At the hospital?"

Her fingers found the switch. A lamp on a table lit up, and the silhouette was revealed.

"You know what happened to Snow. He's totally lost it Mulan. I'm worried."

An expression of compassion flashed by the Chinese woman's face, before she shorted the distance between her and Ida. "I know. I know."

She wrapped her arms around the much taller woman, as if it was her who needed the comfort. Apparently it was. Ida hugged Mulan tightly, and rested her chin on her hair.

"You don't leave the fucking house until the murderer is found." She whispered into the shiny, dark hair.

"I can fucking protect myself. And we can't afford to skip the job. Remember, we're big adults who have mouths to feed." She muttered back, her breath warming Ida's collarbones.

None of them moved for quite some time, before a faint snoring dragged them from their little wonderland.

"Let's go to bed."

Then they tiptoed to the bathroom. They hurried in their sleepwear, Mulan in her striped pajamas, and Ida in an old Led Zeppelin t-shirt, giggling. Then, with some persuasion from Mulans' side, they brushed their teeth.

When they finally crawled underneath the blanket, and silence spread through the apartment, Ida allowed herself to relax. She sunk deep into the mattress, and pulled the blanket all the way up to her nose.

She was tired. She was always tired after the nightshifts, but lately it'd gotten worse. All her muscles felt tired, her heart included. Maybe that's what heartbreak felt like. A centuries old heartbreak.

Then Mulan grabbed her hand, and she couldn't help but smile in the dark. She was stupid to think that her heart was broken. It was just… bruised. She'd stopped to hope that it would ever heal after what happened when they were driven from their homes, but sometimes, when she forgot for a second, she could pretend to be happy for a while.

Mulan only allowed Ida in her bed on rare occasions, usually when she had nightmares or when Ida had a bad day. It was originally Ida's bed, but since Mulan earned more money than her, she felt bad about expelling her to the couch. Maybe it would be fair that the smaller woman slept in the couch, but Ida would not hear it. Maybe she left the Homelands without her sisters, but she damn well still had her dignity.

"Alice would _just_ _not_ turn her music down tonight."

Ida sighed and curled up turned towards Mulan. She could barely see her dark eyes glimpse in the dark. "Hmm?"

"Molly couldn't sleep, so I had to turn into 'mother monster' again. The girl almost ripped my head off."

"Hmm."

"Do she seem more aggressive to you lately? Something happened in school? She told you something?"

"She was stabbed in the foot, chased by a bear, almost decapitated and tortured by the Red Queen. She's allowed to be a little aggressive, don't you think?"

Mulan fell silent, and once again, the only sound was Alice's faint snoring in her bedroom close by.

"She's been touched by war just as much as we have. And for Gods' sake, she's a teenager. She's supposed to be a little bitch, and we're supposed to be… 'mother monsters."

Mulan smirked. "Don't pretend you suffered under your 'war'."

Ida didn't know whether to be happy or sad. She never knew, when she thought about the Homelands. "Yeah, I fucking miss it."

"This world is so boring." Mulan agreed.

Ida exhaled, and pulled herself up, resting her cheek on her hand. "Why don't you join the military then?"

"Traveling somewhere warm to shoot people with guns? No thanks."

"You've always been so noble. You're too good for this world. Only appreciating war because it makes you look good."

Mulan turned towards Ida, and grabbed her around the throat with a grunt. She pulled her down, and used all her weight to push her down into the soft bed. "Shut up." she whispered, in a tone of voice Ida perceived as feigned anger.

Abusing her superior strength, Ida somehow managed to turn the tables on Mulan. Trying to keep as silent as possible, they wrestled for the upper hand for some time. Ida was indeed stronger than her smaller opponent, but Mulan knew a lot of handy tricks. Dirty tricks, if you asked Ida.

A knocking on the wall, made both women stiffen. Then they quickly retrieved the blanket from the floor, crawled underneath and tried to smother their giggling.

"She's gonna kill us tomorrow!"

"Shut up!" Mulan repeated, pinching Ida's waist.

Ida used the rest of the time, before she went asleep, to plan her revenge. Mulan was NOT gonna get the final point.

They both had terrible nightmares.


	3. Two 400 years old kids

**SOOO, odds are I'm not going to upload anthing more here, so I should probably just send what I have, right? I'm sorry for all grammatical mistakes, God know there's a lot of them. Welcome some more characters?**

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**Two 400 years old kids. **

"-ow young lady!"

"I'm not going to school today!"

"Of course you are going! Just like every other kid in New York. Get your lazy ass out of bed!"

"I'm tired!"

"Alice, don't make me come in there!"

"Maybe if you didn't keep me up all night with your ungodly sex games I would-"

Sleep is for the weak, Ida thought to herself, as she dragged herself out of bed. In her struggle, she dragged the blanket down with her, and stumbled into the kitchen.

The kitchen was a war zone. Mulan looked like every other morning grumpy mom, with a lock of black hair struggling to escape from her bun. At the table, halfway hidden behind Corn Flakes and Cheerios, was a silent and pale little girl with big brown eyes.

Ida stepped into the doorway, and took a peek into the Alice's room. Thanks to the girl's limited color scheme, everything inside was pitch black. Everything apart from the light hair flowing underneath the blanket.

"Alice Pleasance Liddell, get in here and eat your breakfast."

The teenager slowly arose from her dark den, and poked her head out. She did look pretty tired, but Ida doubted it was because of her pretty loud arrival the previous night. Truth be told, she hadn't had much time to talk with the Alice lately. Or maybe she had. She felt strongly protective about Alice, maybe because she had been the first to move in with her after she arrived to New York. Maybe her distance was due to her inability to understand children. It wasn't like Valhalla had been crawling with kids. Apart from Loki, anyways.

"You know what? Put on some clothes. I'll be back in a second." Ida closed the door to Alice's room again and joined the others at the table. She grabbed a bowl and sprinkled some Cheerios in there with one hand, and poured the milk in with the other.

"Don't let her get her way again." Mulan murmured. "She _always_ gets her way with you."

Ida didn't answer. Instead she bowed down, and kissed the little girl on the top of her head. "How was yesterday Molly? Did you learn anything new?" she asked, while snatching a teacup from the table and filling it with hot water. The teabag wasn't hard to choose. Alice would never drink anything other than blueberry.

"It was great. We had a substitute teacher and she taught us about-"

"You're always too kind to her. She needs to be raised right. The cat, rabbit and hatter obviously didn't do a good job."

Ida miraculously managed to open and close the door without spilling tea or milk. Alice was standing in front of her mirror, tying her hair with a black ribbon.

Ida carefully placed the breakfast on the nightstand and collapsed on the bed. When Alice was done, and faced the pale woman lying on the metal band bed sheets, Ida patted the bed beside her, implying Alice to sit by her side. For once Alice did what she was asked, and sat on the lead singers creased face.

"Let's make a deal," Ida started, watching the girl with her icy eyes. "You take the bus to school like usual, and if something goes sideways, you call me. I'll come flying to get you right away."

Alice's feet were dangling a few inches over the black carpet. "Promise you'll actually fly."

"I'll put on the swan dress and everything. I promise."

The two women looked at each other in silence for a while, until Alice let herself fall back into the soft sheets. "I wish you still had your spear. Image how much easier it would be if you just impaled all the teachers before we could get any homework-"

"Shut up and eat your breakfast young lady. I'm going back to bed."

The sight of a smile on Alice's lips - that was what it was all about. It was things like that, that made Ida believe that, one day, she might be happy in New York, even after all those years. She'd never described herself as a hopeful person before, but hope was all that she had.

"Tonight we'll roast some marshmallows, and Mulan is going to come around."

"I'm going to keep you to that!" Alice insisted.

"You'd better."

Ida entered the kitchen again, suddenly facing Mulan's unimpressed, narrow eyes. She unintentionally started fiddling with the t-shirts' stiches, avoiding the stoic woman's gaze. She'd always been a woman of actions, not words. You would've thought that she would've been professional in handling trouble between women, after all the years with her sisters, but unfortunately she weren't that lucky.

"Where's Molly?" Ida sounded way more uncomfortable than she would've liked. Sometimes she wished that their power play was limited to their tickle fights.

"She's in her room, packing her bag."

The silence was unpleasant, to say the least, and Ida couldn't stand it. She quickly took a few steps forward, and grabbed Mulan's hands. Her eyes changed from narrow to wide in seconds.

"Have I ever told you how much I appreciate the job you do in this house?"

A little smirk threatened to crack Mulan's serious face, but she quickly got it under control. "Go on."

Ida released the grip around Mulan's small hands, and grabbed her around the waist instead. "Even though you manage to piss Alice off at any given occasion, you still are a wonderful mother."

"Go ooon."

"Even though you can't cook for shit I-"

"Molly, come on! The bus is waiting!" Alice stepped out of her room. Her face was a grimace of disgust while looking at the two women in the kitchen, but Ida was sure she saw a smile when Alice turned around to get Molly.

"What did you just say about my cook-"

Ida tightened her grip around Mulan's tiny waist, and then let her go. "Just get sure those two kids get to school. I'm going to bed. Right now. Goodnight."

She hurried to the bedroom before anything could happen, and slammed the door behind her. Nothing was going to ruin her good night's sleep now!

The warmth of the blankets enveloped her, when she snug into the darkness and the sweet dreams. She pulled the blankets all the way up to her nose, and let out a long, deep breath.

Then her phone started ringing. Loudly.

She really had to use all her strength to sit up, and grab it from the nightstand.

"Jekyl, if you're asking me to come to the hospital right now, I swear to the Gods-"

"Ida, it's me."

"Bigby?"

"It's Snow. She's alive."


	4. (Bonus content, WHAT?)

**Yeeeeeah, imagine this as some bonus content. Just some random shit. A lot longer than the actual chapters, HAHA. Shush Sarah, nobody reads this shit, nobody cares. ANYWAYS, you thought Ida was a cute lil valkyrie? Forget it pal. It's gon get messy. Again, sorry for all my grammatical mistakes. **

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She felt absolutely useless, just continuing her life like it was a day like any other. Waking the kids in the morning, grocery shopping, doing the laundry, making dinner and going to work. The feeling made her sick. Angry. But Bigby would never accept her help, and neither would Snow. She tightened her jaw. And to be honest, she would probably not be good for anything. She did not have Bigby's knack for detective work. Actually, the only talent they had in common was the violence. And he was putting that behind him. He was going straight. Adapting. It almost made her feel sick.

"Hey ma'am!"

She turned around on her heels, and tugged a lock of hair behind her ear. Three young men approached her from the other side of the street. Their faces were hidden beneath the limited streetlight and big hoods.

She let her eyes scour the street. They were the only four people in the street. And they were guiding her right into the alley behind her.

"It's four am. Isn't it way past your bedtime?"

She took a few steps backwards, stepping in the alleyway, away from sight and the few streetlights.

One of the boys let out a grunt of laughter, while his friend pulled out his gun and pointed it right at her chest. "Your wallet, ma'am. And whatever jewelry you happen to wear. Please."

Ida took yet another couple of steps back into the alley, swallowing and pulling her hands out of her pockets. "At least you're polite, I guess."

The boys subconsciously followed her into the alley, dragging their victim even farther from the street and the occasional car driving past.

Time ticked by in almost complete silence. Then the polite guy with the gun waved it around a little with a giggle.

"Ma'am this is a robbery… don't you want to pull out a pepper spray or something?"

She unbuttoned her jacket, and left it on the lid of a garbage can beside her. "I'm trying to give you a chance here, kid. Go home, kiss your mamma goodnight and get a couple hours of shuteye."

The guys threw a silent glance at each other. She heard the gun cock, and once again it was pointed right at her. "We'll be sure to do that when you've handed over your wallet."

Ida let out a sigh, and bit her lip. "Well, I did try to warn you, didn't I?"

She took advantage of the boys' hesitation, and acted with blinding speed. With help from a garbage can lid, it was almost too easy to knock the gun out of the equation. Before they even had time to react, she bashed one of the guys to the asphalt with the lid.

It was almost too easy. She doubted that any of them had ever been in an actual fight before. The counterattack was from the third boy, a fist coming directly at her face. She easily grabbed it in her delicate, pale hand. The bones cracked under her grip, and he fell to his knees, screaming like crazy. A knee to his head silenced him.

Her heels scratched loudly over the asphalt, as she turned to the last guy. He didn't look so confident without his gun. He was holding his wounded hand, too scared to move or even breathe. She felt her lips curl, and bare her teeth in a smile that were probably anything but pleasant. He finally woke up from his terrified trance, and started fleeing with his tail between his legs.

He could have gotten away, home to his family. Put crime behind him. Maybe get a respectable job, a wife and kids.

She grabbed him by his hair, and yanked him to the ground. He tried to get up, but her stiletto hit him right on the back. They both heard the sound of breaking bones. She licked her lips, and smeared her lipstick.

He tried to roll onto his back, tried to drag himself out of her reach, but he definitely had trouble moving. Maybe he's back was more messed up than she's planed. Humans and their fragility.

She gently turned him around, facing her, and slowly seated herself on top of him. His brown hair was a mess and coated in blood. He had deep brown eyes as well, glossy with tears and the yellow streetlight. Ooh, he had freckles too. To be honest, he was pretty cute. He definitely already had a girlfriend. And he was horrified. Petrified. Too scared to even breathe anything but a shallow panting. She could feel his heartbeat against her thighs.

She placed her bloody hands on his face, placing her thumbs on his eyelids, gentle like a feather.

"Please…" he begged.

"Oh baby, you were warned. You don't get to beg." But his tiny voice made her muscles tremble. He was a young kid, defenseless, lying in a street with soaked pants, and two unconscious, probably dead, friends by his side. Something welled up in her throat. She swallowed hard and blinked rapidly.

She removed her thumbs, forcing his eyes open.

"If you say a word about me, you're dead. You get me?"

He didn't answer.

"I mean, it can't be that hard to make up a story. Gang war? A flowerpot falling from a window? I don't really care."

She patted his pale cheek, leaving a red mark, and got up on her feet. Her jacket would hide the bloodstains on her white turtleneck, at least until she came home and got it washed off.

"What a fucking day."


End file.
